Jacqueline Aitken was born in Bath, Somerset, England in 1945. Her father was a civil servant; her mother was an antiques dealer.[4] Jacqueline spent most of her childhood in Kingston upon Thames, where she went to Latchmere Primary School. She particularly enjoyed books by Noel Streatfeild, as well as American classics like Little Women and What Katy Did.[5] At the age of seven, she filled Woolworths notebooks with stories of her imaginary games. At the age of nine she wrote her first "novel" which was 21 sides long.[6] That story, Meet the Maggots, was about a family with seven children. Although she was good at English, she had no interest in mathematics; she would often stare out of the window and imagine rather than pay attention to the class, leading her final-year teacher at Latchmere to nickname her "Jacky Daydream". Jacqueline Wilson later used the nickname as the title of the first stage of her autobiography.[7]

After Latchmere, she attended Coombe Girls' School, which she still visits regularly. A lecture hall at Kingston University's Penrhyn Road campus has been named after her.[8] After leaving school at age 16, she began training as a secretary but then applied to work with the Dundee-based publishing company DC Thomson on a new girls' magazine, Jackie.[9]

DC Thomson offered the 17-year-old a job after she penned a piece on the horrors of teen discos. She fell in love with a printer named Millar Wilson. When he joined the police force, the couple moved south for his work, marrying in 1965 when Wilson was 19. Two years later, they had a daughter, Emma.[9] They divorced in 2004.[10][11]
When Wilson focused on writing, she completed a few crime fiction novels before dedicating herself to children's books. At the age of 40, she took A-level English and earned a grade A.[10] She had mixed success with about 40 books before the breakthrough to fame in 1991 with The Story of Tracy Beaker,[12] published by Doubleday.

Two decades later, Wilson lives in a Victorian villa in Kingston upon Thames. It is filled with books; her library of some 15,000 books extends into the outbuilding at the bottom of her garden.[13] She remains a keen reader, completing a book a week despite her hectic schedule. Her favourite writers for adults include Katherine Mansfield and Sylvia Plath.[5] She also surrounds herself with old-fashioned childhood objects such as a rocking horse and antique dolls, and has a unique taste in clothes and jewellery, being known for wearing black clothes and an array of large rings.[14]

In June 2013, Wilson was appointed professorial fellow of the University of Roehampton,[15] and a Pro-Chancellor. In February 2014 it was announced that she would be appointed Chancellor of the university (its honorary figurehead) from August 2014.[16] She was reappointed in 2017 for a further three years.[17] She teaches modules in both the Children's Literature and Creative Writing master's degree (MA) programmes offered by the university.[18]

Two of her books were "Highly Commended" runners-up for the annual Carnegie Medal: The Story of Tracy Beaker (1991) and Double Act (1995).[27][a]

In June 2002, Wilson was appointed an OBE for services to literacy in schools[28] and from 2005 to 2007 she served as the fourth Children's Laureate.[4][28] In that role Wilson urged parents and child-care providers to continue reading aloud to children long after they are able to read for themselves. She also campaigned to make more books available for blind people and campaigned against cutbacks in children's TV drama.[citation needed]

A dramatisation of Wilson's Double Act, written and directed by Vicky Ireland, was first performed at The Polka Theatre in Wimbledon, London from 30 January to 12 April 2003, and toured throughout the UK. The playscript was published by Collins Plays Plus. Ireland has also written dramatisations of The Lottie Project (performed at Polka Theatre and San Pol Theatre, Madrid), Midnight, Bad Girls and Secrets, which were also commissioned by the Polka Theatre, and a dramatisation of The Suitcase Kid which was performed at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond and later toured throughout the UK. The scripts for these plays were published by Nick Hern Books.

The following books by Wilson have been adapted for TV:

Cliffhanger (1995, Channel 4). Part of Look, See and Read, two-part drama.

Double Act (2002, Channel 4). Starring twins Zoe and Chloe Tempest-Jones as Ruby and Garnet, with a special appearance by Jacqueline Wilson as the casting director at the auditions. This was a one-off 100-minute feature.

Best Friends (2004, ITV). This was a six-part miniseries, but was originally broadcast as one feature with a slightly different ending. It starred Chloe Smyth as Gemma and Poppy Rogers as Alice. Original broadcast date: 3 December 2004. This was repeated on the CITV Channel on 6 March 2010.

Tracy Beaker Returns (2010–2012). This is a series in which Tracy (Dani Harmer) returns to the "Dumping Ground" (Stowey House, whose name has been changed to Elm Tree House) to earn money for her new book because she used Cam's credit card without permission to publish it. She realises that Elm Tree House has changed and the new children act just like she did herself in her days. At times, she tries to help the children, concluding in the new social workers almost firing her. But sometimes she only gets the child's part of the story, then being told the whole thing and being totally confused and outraged.

The Tracy Beaker Survival Files (2011–2012). A spin-off series where Tracy teaches lessons about various subjects using her stories from the past, and clips from The Story of Tracy Beaker and Tracy Beaker Returns.

The Dumping Ground (2013–). The continued life at the Dumping Ground after Tracy Beaker moves on to a new care home, and focuses more on just one child in the care home.

The Dumping Ground Survival Files (2014). A spin-off series where the Dumping Ground kids teach lessons about various subjects using stories that have happened to them and their friends in the past, using clips from Tracy Beaker Returns and The Dumping Ground.

Hetty Feather (2015–). Stars Isabel Clifton as Hetty Feather, living her life in the Foundling Hospital and, later at the end of the third series, starting her life as a maid in service.

The Dumping Ground: I'm... (2016–2017). A spin-off series similar to the Survival Files, but instead where the characters make videos about themselves, who they are, what they like and stuff that's happened to them in their life.

Katy was made into a three-part TV series, Katy, broadcast on CBBC in March 2018.[32]

^Since 1995 there are usually eight books on the Carnegie shortlist. CCSU lists 32 "Highly Commended" runners-up for the Carnegie Medal from 1966 to 2002 but only three before 1979 when the distinction became approximately annual. There were 29 "HC" books in 24 years including Wilson alone for 1991 and 1995.

^"Jacqueline Wilson". Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults, 2nd ed., 8 vols. Gale Group, 2002. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Retrieved 2 January 2010, From 2005 to 2007.